


see a penny / pick it up

by kingsofneon



Series: horny reading list [24]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Bad Luck Curses, Fairy Tale Curses, M/M, Multi, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, Swearing, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:40:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingsofneon/pseuds/kingsofneon
Summary: Ace is pretty happy with the life he leads now. His best friend is his soulmate, he gets to swordfight on the regular (and steal from random idiots), and nobody gets to hurt either of them.But then everything changes when Sabo's old frenemy comes traipsing through the woods.
Relationships: Fushicho Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace/Sabo
Series: horny reading list [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1641943
Comments: 11
Kudos: 18





	see a penny / pick it up

The flash of silver belied the clang of metal, and Ace yawns as Sabo bares down on him, sword shifting in his loose wrist.

“You’re being lazy,” Sabo says, when Ace deflects a blow one-handed, and Ace quirks one side of his mouth in a rakish grin.

“I’m bored, surely that’s different.”

“Would it be boring if I cut your hand off?” 

“You love my hands,” Ace pouts, and Sabo twists his sword and sends Ace’s blade flying, clattering to the dust a fair distance away. Sabo rests the blade in the hollow of Ace’s throat, and he tilts his chin up with a delighted smirk. “Oh, you got me,” he says, biting his lip as Sabo hovers the point right on his adam’s apple, letting Ace feel the deadly weight of it on his skin. “Whatever will I do, at your mercy?”

Sabo snorts, and pulls the blade back. “The dishes, fucker.” 

“Hey!” Ace whines, but Sabo’s already sheathing his sword and heading over to pick up Ace’s discarded blade. “Come on Sabo, I wanna do something _fun_!”

“What, you don’t think cleaning is fun? However could I have guessed.” Sabo says, tone a bland drawl, and Ace huffs, his fringe flopping into his eyes. Before Ace can retort, however, the jingle of horse tack and a carriage filter through their hidden spy system and both of them snap to attention. Sabo’s eyes narrow, but Ace perks up, eager fire in his eyes, and grins dangerously at Sabo. “Shotsies,” he says, baring his teeth, and Sabo scoffs. 

“With what blade?” he says, Ace’s sword held in one lazy hand, and Ace sticks his tongue out. 

“If they have that many bells and whistles, I doubt they’ll know why it’s a bad idea to travel through this forest,” Ace says, and Sabo rolls his eyes with a long-suffering sigh. Still, Ace can see his grin as Sabo chucks him the sword. Ace catches it deftly and slides it into the sheath, taking off with Sabo laughing on his heels. 

Only once, however; a moment later, Sabo’s silent bar the shift of leaves in his passage, and as soon as Ace catches sight of the horse's flank, he slows and raises his fist. Sabo smacks the back of his hand, then darts away with a grin and a wink, light on his feet and he dances in front, and Ace gives him a scowl. He'd wanted the fight, but they can't argue now or they'll scare away the traveler - no matter how stupid they were for traveling through this part of their forest. 

Ace holds his breath and steps carefully around the horse and rider, his hand hovering above his sword, and then suddenly the rider lets out a loud, "Ow!"

At the same time, fire burns against Ace's wrist, and he hisses a quick, pained curse. He claps a hand over it, feeling the raised indent of letters beneath his palm. Sabo appears next to his side, a faint sheen of sweat along his forehead and his expression hard, and Ace swallows. 

"Was that-?"

Sabo holds out his wrist without speaking, and Ace swallows again before holding his own out as well, cataloguing the name seared into their skin. “Oh,” he says softly, the new name on his skin matching the old one on Sabo's, tracing the mirror curves between them. His own name is chicken-scratch beneath it, and a far darker colour, blooming with fire and steel, but- between them there's three names, and Ace knows that Sabo hates the one that's just burned itself into Ace's skin. 

Fuck, his mouth is dry.

"Who's there?" calls the rider, scanning the forest, and Ace and Sabo freeze, knowing well enough that movement draws the eye better than stillness, and that both of them are so smothered in dirt that they blend in.

“Him?” Ace whispers, studying the rider with wide eyes as the stranger wheels their horse around and tries to find what has set off his soul. "But I thought you already-"

He looks _regal,_ back straight and clothes _neat,_ and he has his own sword strapped to his waist. He looks like everything a noble's kid should be, except he's wearing a doctor's coat and there's a baby slung over his chest. 

Sabo grimaces. “Him,” he says, and Ace chances a look over to see that Sabo's jaw is set tight, and his eyes are deadly. "That's the guy my parents cursed."

The rider draws his sword, one hand cradled protectively over the child's head. "Come out, yoi!"

Ace sighs, and rubs his hand over his wrist as though that could erase the name now on his skin. "We could kill him?" Ace suggests, and Sabo clicks his tongue lightly.

"Can't," he says shortly.

"I can kill him?" Ace offers, and Sabo's lips twitch.

"I have a better idea," Sabo says, and the grin tugging at his mouth is all his worst ideas, a history of pain and self sabotage. "We'll just make him _wish_ he were dead."

**Author's Note:**

> 😘 review


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